All the Best Cowboys Have Singing Issues
by ronniekins77
Summary: Jack singing, Kate flirting - this fic. Takes place during season 1.


**A/N: **Written in November of 2006, takes place sometime in season 1. Inspired by the Big & Rich song - _Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy _- as well as the numerous references on the show to Jack being a cowboy. And, of course, my thinking that Kate would love herself a good ol' cowboy. ;)

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Kate breathed a sigh of relief - she had found him. All day she'd been searching for Jack to tell him that Nikki was complaining of back pain and she'd looked everywhere. She had walked up and down the beach twice and gone to all their familiar spots in the jungle before finally arriving here at the caves. It wasn't a surprise to see Jack here, even if no one lived here anymore. Boone's death here had not exactly been something that had convinced people to stay. Everyone lived on the beach now and all that was left here was abandoned clothes, medicine bottles, and the hearty stream of water in the crevice of the rocks.

Jack was collecting the items people had left behind, as if to tidy up the place. He had a look of utmost concentration on his face and Kate watched as he packed things into suitcases. He was still a mystery to her after all this time on the island, she thought, as her eyes rested on the tattoos on his arms. But what stopped Kate from opening her mouth and announcing her presence was the fact that Jack was...singing.

She grinned at the absurdity of it. For starters, Jack did not seem like the singing type and she'd never seen him do something so normal and relaxing. In addition, Jack did not have a good voice. While he wasn't completely tone deaf, he certainly wasn't on pitch. As she inched closer to him, she was able to make out of a few of the words. "_...I'm the only John Wayne left in this town! And I saddle up my horse and I ride into the city..._

"You singing about horses?" she asked, utterly amused, and Jack turned around in surprise.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Just a couple minutes," she said, folding her arms across her chest and walking over to him. "I'm here to tell you that Nikki has back pain."

"Ah," said Jack, bending down to zip up a suitcase.

There was a pause before Kate, who couldn't help herself, said, "Was that a country song?"

"Yeah," he responded, smiling that smile that had the ability to turn her to mush.

"I didn't know you liked country music," she said.

"Some country music," Jack corrected and Kate laughed.

"I've never heard that song before," she told him. "How does it go again?"

Jack looked at the ground, grinning. "I'm not going to sing it, Kate."

"Why not? I already heard you. You don't have to be embarrassed. I sing in the shower and I can't carry a tune either."

He raised his eyebrows, his forehead wrinkling, that haughty Jack look on his face. "I can carry a tune."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Prove it."

And Jack started singing, "_...I sang her every Willie Nelson song I could think of and we made looove!_" and Kate burst into giggles.

"What?" he said, laughing himself.

"Oh, Jack, it was a good thing you became a doctor," and Kate put her hands over her mouth in an attempt to contain herself.

"Well," Jack said, "I was going to audition for American Idol, you know," and this only made her laugh harder. She couldn't remember ever laughing so hard.

When Kate finally pulled herself together, she asked, "Okay, how does the rest of the song go?"

Jack shook his head. "Oh, so you can start laughing at me again, huh?"

She gave him the most innocent look she could muster. "I just want to know how it ends."

She swore she saw him blush before he got up and started packing more things into suitcases, as if he hadn't heard her. "Come on!" she begged. She didn't want this moment to end.

He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to do. "_...and all the girls say, save a horse, ride a cowboy!_"

Kate bit her lip to keep from laughing at the adorably cute look of mortification on Jack's face as he finished the lyric. "A horse saved me once, does that count?" she said, knowing she was flirting.

Jack, who seemed to know it, too, said, "Does that make me the cowboy?"

Kate cocked her head to the side and looked him up and down, mock judging him. Her eyes traveled from his dirt covered jeans to his maroon sleeveless shirt; up his tanned arms to the key wrapped around his neck; across the dark stubble on his face and smile on his lips. God, he was hot. Her eyes finally rested on his and she smirked. "Definitely."


End file.
